The India Club’s cricket team made its debut on the cricket grounds of Singapore on Saturday, May 7th, playing a friendly fixture against the British Club (which plays regularly in the local SCA league). The India Club team was hampered by the unfortunate absence of four players who had registered for the team, but failed to turn up on the day. However, the members present made up in enthusiasm what they lacked in numbers. Although we were beaten by 30 runs in a 25-overs a side encounter, our fledgling side put up a fighting performance and great fun was had by all who participated. Brief scores: British Club 163/7 in 25 overs (Allison 52 retd, Bacon 34; Amit 1/38, Basu 2/39, Kapadia 1/24); India Club 133/4 in 25 overs (PK Basu 39 retd, Amit Gupta 32 retd, Karan 31).

A young player (Karan) recommended by High Commissioner Alok Prasad took the new ball when we were put in to field upon losing the toss. Karan worked up terrific pace off the wicket, and troubled the opposing batsmen in his opening maiden over. But our other opening bowler, PK Basu, got the first breakthrough, as an outswinger from him took the edge of Symes’ bat and was caught brilliantly at slip by Amit Gupta for 4. But our opponent’s second wicket pair (Allison and Amjad) then settled into a good rhythm and began carting our bowlers to all corners of the ground. We were glad to see Allison retire on 52 (obeying the agreed principle of retiring on reaching a half-century), even as Karan ended his 5 over spell with 0/41 despite some excellent bowling. Soon afterwards, Amit Gupta’s left arm spin snared Amjad plumb in front of the wicket (lbw 25), and Basu ended the dangerous third-wicket partnership by getting Philips lbw for 28. Sanjeev Kapadia bowled a tidy 5-over spell of off-spin, finishing with 1/24, including the wicket of Imran caught by Basu at square leg. Anup Bhargava bowled three fine overs of medium-pace for 15 runs. But our guest bowler, Najib (who joined the fielding side halfway through the innings) got the key wicket of Bacon in his only over (caught and bowled), albeit conceding 9 runs. And young Mohan D’Souza got tailender Wignall bowled in his only over. Despite some superb wicket-keeping by Rajesh Piplani, and valiant work in the field by Thomas Thomas, Abhinav Bhargava and other youngsters, our opponents had piled up a formidable 163/7 in their 25 overs.

Najib and Karan began our reply carefully, putting on 30 runs in the first 8 overs, before Najib was bowled for 16 by Wignall. Sanjeev Kapadia and Karan then put on a fine partnership of 25 runs in 4.4 overs before Sanjeev was unfortunately run out by a direct hit. PK Basu and Karan then sought to accelerate the scoring, raising the run-rate to 7-8 runs an over – but our opponents kept the bowling tight. Karan was adjudged caught behind for 31, and Amit Gupta and Basu then put on a big partnership of 70 runs in 7 overs, but we were always behind the required run rate. At the end of the 23rd over, both Basu (39) and Gupta (32) retired, in order to allow the other batsmen a chance at the crease. Anup Bhargava made an unbeaten 8 (partly in the company of his son Abhinav), while Rajesh Piplani was unlucky to be given lbw for 4. We ended at 133/4 at the end of our 25 overs, losing by a modest 30 runs despite the severe dearth of players in our first foray into Singapore’s cricket grounds.

A special word of thanks for Dolly Piplani, who took on the onerous task of being the official scorer for the match, and to Jaishree Bhargava, who acted as chief photographer and also brought along two sons (and a husband, Anup) all of whom participated with distinction. Little Aman Bhargava, whose height was little more than that of a standard cricket bat, was a courageous fielder and Abhinav showed his batting prowess briefly while also fielding well. All in all, a very enjoyable debut for the India Club cricket side.
Reported by P.K. Basu

India Club is proud to support “Practical aspects of doing business in India", a seminar /workshop conducted by Condurre Consultants - www.condurre.com.sg designed to enable companies and individuals to better understand the ground realities of working and doing business in India.

The speakers include leading experts who have many years of experience on various aspects of business in India. The workshop will educate you about government procedures, investment routing, tax issues, partner relationships, importance and critical aspects of due diligence in India, exit options that need to be considered and the investment climate for foreign investors. The workshop will look at real life case studies of foreign corporates in India thereby enabling participants to gain a better understanding of ground realities in India.

This workshop is different from the usual “informational” seminar that is held on India and would instead focus on the more practical aspects, through real life examples, thereby giving participants a “hands-on” understanding of business in India.

The same workshop was recently well received in the UK and France and will be presented in Japan and China.

Details of the workshop are as follows

Date: 13th May 2004

Time: 8:45 am to 2:30 pm ( Tea and Lunch included)

Venue: Tanglin Club 5 Steven Road, Singapore

India Club members are eligible for a special rate of S$ 60 for the workshop

Additional information and the registration form can be obtained from this link http://www.condurre.com.sg/seminarmay.pdf.
Please register directly with Condurre Consultants as per details provided in the registration form, mentioning that you are an India Club member.

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